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Thursday, 10 August 2017

'Appropriation'

The next story in Cold Iron is by Michael James Parker, and is a tale of a Haunted Object. Or in this case, two objects - hair sandals. Apparently it was once customary for Chinese widows to weave slippers of their hair as a mark of mourning. I had no idea this happened and am now fascinated by the concept. But of course, in the story a rather smug Western person obtains the sandals and proposes to flog them for a ton of cash.

This is familiar territory to ghost story fans. M.R. James did it well in 'The Haunted Dolls' House', for instance, but we can all think of half a dozen good examples. 'Appropriation' works well as an example of the tradition, not least when the ghost itself appears. Again, the description of the being is very M.R. James, complete with flaps of skin, patches of decay, a few hairs streaked over a dead scalp.

This is arguably the most effective horror story in the book so far, with the ghost-as-monster that deals harshly with shallow, greedy folk. Cultural appropriation is of course a big, complex issue. But here the author manages to encapsulate the anger it arouses in fictional form. Good stuff. More of this review soon.